The news is often wasted on the negative. It’s a true crime. All too often people are painted in a bad light. Coloured to appear darker than their potential. And when they act out of “character” their actions are deemed alien. We become so used to the status quo that we begin to perceive a new “norm”. There’s an old debate almost as old as hate and violence. The argument was over which is more powerful words or actions the pen or the sword. What many ignore or fail to acknowledge is that ideas words which lead to actions which help define one’s character. Only a fool would believe that words belong to only pacifists. How else do you think wars originate and continue? Speech is no more than ideas given sound and a new life. All of that being considered let me attempt to right a few wrongs.
On the night of July 23 I witnessed an act that dared break through the noise. I saw a young father with his daughter who was not much older than five. They were out for an evening run. The run was nothing formal mind you honestly it was just a simple run, in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The peculiar thing about a run however, is that it needs no track or measured distance. A run needs but have only a distance. The weather was perfect for a run. I myself would have been tempted if not for my own lingering achilles’ injury. I usually don’t see myself in the face or actions of others. I’m not special I just don’t usually see others where I would want to be in future. This night I saw a father with his daughter introducing her to the simplicity and joy that is running. It’s shocked me as well as warmed my heart. I didn’t know it until I saw it but I innately want to do the same thing if I ever have a daughter of my own.
We seem so often enamored with the notion of father’s being absent from family life that anything more comes across as a shock. This notion is only further exacerbated when the father is a minority. It’s not always said but it’s felt and thought of. The situation that night in July was a welcome change in venue. The portrait was common but rich in substance. Presented before me was a man showing his daughter a joy of his. I say, “joy” because as a fellow runner running is often times more pain than joy. One could hear the joy in his voice as it was too dark to see his facial features. His happiness vibrated past his vocal cords and reached his daughter’s ears. The topic of running was kept mostly simple. Talking of running and repetitions made in the form of laps. I’m not sure if she was more thrilled to be with her dad or to be mimicking his motions.
I’m not sure how many laps they made in the parking lot. The number of laps was merely secondary to what they were truly doing. They were spending time together. Just about every other commodity can be earned back. However, time is not amongst those. People myself included seem so often to forget this. We throw it away and focus on other things. A dollar is worth the same as a million in a cemetery. And since time is the most valuable out of time and money it make little sense that we focus on something so miniscule. The law of supply and demand teaches us that time far outweighs money and material things in comparison
He was being present. Not just a dad but a real father. He could have been anywhere else doing anything with anyone. He wasn’t trying to turn her into Alison Felix he was just sharing a passion. He showed a broad range of potential. More than a donor, a shield but also a nurturer. He made time which in turn will become memories sooner than later. In moments like that I see myself in people’s actions. I want to be there. Not when it’s easy but when I'm tired. I want to remember my why and not my excuses.
It’s time we use the full colour pallet. There are too many stories like this to be ignored or not shared. Running works in two directions. It’s time we run towards thinking the best of all people. I prefer this to discriminating before we know a person’s character.
I give you “the runner” a story you won’t see or hear on any major news network.